


Wild

by slashmania



Series: 50 Thousand Words (from October to December!) [14]
Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Cat Cafés, Eames has the best ideas, M/M, Routine, a bookstore full of cats!, boring routine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:27:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21694627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slashmania/pseuds/slashmania
Summary: Eames deviates from Arthur's carefully planned (and sort of boring) routines so they can go to that one bookstore full of cats.
Relationships: Arthur/Eames (Inception)
Series: 50 Thousand Words (from October to December!) [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1503791
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Wild

**Author's Note:**

> Day 14: Wild  
> 1,077 words

Arthur kind of liked to form routines. No, he made it a _habit_ to form beneficial routines that couldn’t be used against him in anyway while he was working. People couldn’t follow him around for a few days and suddenly learn how to track his movements, or what coffee he was going to order, or if he had any close friends or relatives whose safety and well-being could be used to put a ton of pressure on him during an interrogation.

Arthur would say that he didn’t have anyone close to him, but that was a lie. He had one person for sure, but Arthur didn’t want anyone to know about him. At all.

Arthur operated under the misconception that if he didn’t reveal any of this information, any pertinent information at all that could help others understand him or get close to him, it made him a mystery when in fact all it did was make it really hard to decide what to get him for Christmas, or how to start conversations with him, and so on.

Arthur’s beneficial routines were mostly the only things he could talk about without revealing anything beneficial to a person who might one day decide that he had outlived his usefulness and needed to be gutted or shot.

As a result, Arthur mostly came off as a little flat. When he wasn’t talking about high-stakes dreamshare jobs full of guns and money, Arthur talked about grocery shopping trips, chores, and home repairs.

It was why it was so hard deal with Eames being so... _wild._

At first it pissed Arthur off that Eames was so insistent on deviating from a structured plan to make it less likely they would be killed, or used against one another, or something!

“Let’s go shopping at that weird bookstore!” Eames would say, dragging Arthur to the location mostly on foot, taking long and twisting paths, shortcuts that weren’t short, and getting sidetracked from the main goal- finding that one book Arthur couldn’t find a copy of in other book stores or online.

“Why is the bookstore so weird, then?” Arthur would grumpily ask when they finally got there. Arthur entered the bookstore and found that it was full of cats. Lounging cats, reclining cats, curious cats who went for little walks on some of the shorter bookshelves!

“I want to hate you so much,” Arthur said while looking at an affectionate feline greeting him by twining around his legs and leaving cat hair all over his jeans. Arthur squatted down and picked up the cat then, cuddling the purring cat when he turned to look at Eames, who had clearly expected this to happen. “I don’t hate this kitten. Or any of the cats in here. I just hate _you,_ Eames.”

Eames took that with grace. “I know you love cats, Arthur. You’re free to hate me as much as you like. Go play with the kittens and older cats while you look for a book.”

“I’m not supposed to love you or love anything because I have to be prepared for things to be taken away from me suddenly, but damn it, this tabby is too sweet, and _you’re too sweet_ even if you fuck up my plans with your ideas that lack planning.”

Eames could have taken affront to this but didn’t because it was what he already knew about Arthur. He knew that Arthur hated having to deviate from his plans, but also worried over detection, and backstabbing, and murder...

“This actually took so much planning, love,” Eames admitted. “But I had to throw you off with all the detours and backtracking because you are so brilliant, I didn’t want you to catch on to what I was planning!”

“But how did you know I like cats? I never told you that!”

“You never tell anyone anything that doesn’t have to do with something mildly boring or uninteresting. Did you know that Cobb was actually considering buying you one of those Swiffer sweepers for your last birthday?”

Arthur’s mouth dropped open in surprise! “Damn it, I would have loved one of those things!”

Eames rolled his eyes and sighed. “But I found out that you like cats because you almost always take a walk where you pass a cat café.”

Arthur sighed. He thought he had been discreet enough on the walks that he took with Eames that passed by that place. It was a cute little café that served coffee and tea, some food that was prepared in another facility, and had several cats just lounging around for customers to pet.

“I get this feeling that you would love to hang out with animals. Cats, some dogs maybe, but its hard enough for you to deal with annoying people sometimes. Considering that some of those annoying people like to try and shoot you a lot. So instead of indulging in a little wilderness or nature, you walk by that shop and briefly admire the cats.”

Arthur admitted defeat while holding the kitten that was now attempting to get his attention by pawing at his shirtfront, mewing at him. “It’s just that they’re so cute. But they shed so much. Yet they are also excellent at hunting mice! And I don’t know why, but it breaks my heart to think of one of them getting hurt if I’m gone. Or getting hurt because I’m not gone and someone has realized that I love something that isn’t a boring activity that doesn’t involve people. Sorry,” Arthur added in embarrassment.

“It’s fine, Arthur. I’m glad that you love cats. I get a little confused when you think that the stuff you do is boring though...sure the things you mention to everyone else sounds dreadfully boring, but _you're_ not boring at all.”

So Arthur may not have been wild. But he loved wild things and people. Or a wild person. Arthur cuddled the kitten and smiled at Eames.

“How about we find that book I’m looking for and take this little guy for a walk around the store?”

Eames nodded and smiled. “That sounds like an excellent idea, Arthur!” He held up something in a little foil marked with a sticker. It was a sticker based on the store's logo. “I got some cat treats that they pass out here, so we can give this kitten attention, love, and the good stuff! I hear that these treats come in salmon, chicken, and liver flavors, too.”


End file.
